What is Learning Ally?

Learning Ally is a collection of books read by humans for students with print disabilities, including blindness, visual impairment and dyslexia. They have over 80,000 titles in their collection including popular books in the mainstream as well as textbooks.

How does it work?

Learning Ally recruits volunteers to read books, which are then turned into audiobooks. These volunteers synchronize the audio along with the text so that a student can follow along with highlighted sentences. You can read more about this process or volunteer to make an audiobook here - https://www.learningally.org/Volunteer/Making-Audiobooks

How does this help students?

Making books accessible helps students in three main ways. First, having access to an audiobook provides students with information and content that otherwise may be difficult to attain if the only format is text. Second, having this access bridges the gap between ability to decode and ability to comprehend. In other words, it may be difficult for a student to independently read information about space from a textbook, but that doesn’t mean that the student has difficulty understanding the concepts of space. Last, instead of struggling through reading the words, students have an easier way to simply enjoy reading just for the joy of it.

What are the steps to using it on your child’s HPDS laptop?

1. Learning Ally is pushed out to student Chromebooks. There is a shortcut in the bottom shelf.
2. Double-click to open it.
3. Have your child login.
4. Find a book and start reading!

Can I use Learning Ally at home?

Absolutely! Here are some suggestions from Learning Ally:

• Start with 3-5 high interest titles
• Set aside time to practice listening
• Use comfortable, good quality headphones
• Listen while following along with the text
• Be flexible, listen while lying in bed or coloring a picture
• Experiment with the speed to find the right fit

How much does it cost?

HPDS pays for the subscription while your child is enrolled at Hyde Park Day School. The cost for membership after transition is $135 with eligibility requirements. Here is the link - https://www.learningally.org/Parents/Join

Does it work on other devices?

Yes. Learning Ally can be used on a variety of different devices including PCs, Macs and mobile. The trick is discovering which format works best with the tools the student needs and on the device s/he is working. The program or app is called Learning Ally Link. Here is a list of the links to download Learning Ally Link  - https://www.learningally.org/Parents/Devices

What do I need to know when my student transitions?

• Reflect on your child’s use of Learning Ally and think about whether this is something you would like to continue on a personal basis or talk to your child’s transition school about providing.
• If you decide to continue to use Learning Ally, consider having a conversation with your child’s teacher about how to integrate it into your child’s learning.

What else is good to know about working with Learning Ally?

• Learning Ally uses the Internet to find and add books to a student’s bookshelf and it uses an application called Learning Ally Link to download and read the books. This can all be managed through the Learning Ally Link.

• Adding books to the bookshelf in Learning Ally requires an Internet connection.

• When a student clicks Add book from within the Learning Ally Link, the Internet browser opens up. The student adds the book from the Internet window. Then the student goes back into the application to download and read the book.
• Once the book is downloaded, the student can access it online or offline.

• Learning Ally offers scholarships to its members.
• The different Learning Ally programs do not sync. If your student begins reading a book on the laptop and then opens up Learning Ally from an iPad, your student will need to remember where s/he left off.
• Find out what from your child’s new school what textbooks and novels your child will be using next year. Do a search for the books and if you do not find them, submit a request to Learning Ally or have the school submit a request for the textbook. Best advice is to submit these titles in the summer or as early as possible. It may take a few months. https://learningally.org/Help/Services
• Depending on the amount/type of requests Learning Ally receives, they may or may not be able to honor a book request if it is not in the repository.
• Audio text has limited options for manipulation of  content material as compared to digital text.
• Learning Ally is only available to people with diagnosed learning, print or visual impairment disabilities or characteristics of these disabilities as identified by a competent authority (such as an IEP) or a private assessment.

Where can I find more information?

Learning Ally - https://www.learningally.org/

Learning Ally’s YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/user/LearningAlly/featured

Learning Ally’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/Learning_Ally

Learning Ally Guide for Mobile 

Learning Ally Guide for Laptops

How is Learning Ally different from Bookshare?

Bookshare is another resource for students with print disabilities. HPDS uses both Learning Ally and Bookshare. Access to Bookshare provides more options for teachers to teach our students how to use assistive technology that in turn, help our students transition. Access to Learning Ally provides a different format for our students to access and read books.

A few differences are the following:

Differences between Bookshare and Learning Ally - https://www.bookshare.org/cms/help-center/how-bookshare-different-nls-or-learning-ally-rfbd

*Please note that technology and pricing is always changing. This document reflects the most recent known information as indicated by the Last Updated Date at the top of the page.